A/N:Three reviews. More than thirty hits (At least when I started writing this). Huh. I had hoped that my whole no-stealing lecture was going to make a difference. Thirty minus three… is… Give me a second… twenty seven. That's twenty-seven people who stole from me. TWENTY FREKIN SEVEN! You each get a life sentence at… Azkaban :K! Average life span is about 85 years… round to 100 'cause I'm lazy and shit at math… twenty-seven times 100 is… 2700! Gasp! TWO THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS! That means you guys are gonna be locked up for eevvveeerrrrr! I'll testify for you and get you out, however, if I get more reviews this time.

--LADY FLIPPIN' AMALPHIA!

Emma can't write a disclaimer today, 'cause she fell asleep because of the calming drugs Dr. Pepper gave her.

"Who's there?" Sonic said groggily. He sat strait up and flung a pillow randomly at the source of the sudden noise.

"Sonic!" snapped Amy, ducking to avoid the incoming object. The blue hedgehog rubbed his eyes and smiled meekly at her.

"Sorry, Ames." He yawned, getting to his feet and tossing the pillow back onto the bed. Amy returned his smile apologetically.

"I forgot my conditioner here the other day." She told him, walking past him and to the master bathroom.

"And you had to come get it at two AM?" He asked, his voice half annoyed and half amused.

"Well I was in the neighborhood." She said tugging at her gloves and staring fixedly at the ceiling. Sonic watched her for a moment with a cocked eyebrow, but his face cracked into a grin.

"Sure. I'll grab your stuff." He stepped around her and reached into the shower to grab an orange bottle of heavily perfumed conditioner. As he pulled it out, his nose caught the fragrance and his bode froze. He shut his eyes gently for a moment, and drew in a deep breath, letting the scent intoxicate his senses for a moment. It was a crisp citrus aroma, doused slightly by a dim, flowery smell. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Amy smirking at him from the doorway with a hand on her hip. Sonic immediately slapped his arms to his sides, eyes wide. Amy tittered a little and marched over to him with the amused smile frozen on her face. She picked up the bottle with her thumb and index finger, still gazing at Sonic with the little smile on her face.

"I like your shampoo." He said awkwardly hastily letting her pull the little orange bottle out of his grasp.

"Thanks." Amy giggled, pinching his cheek. Sonic smiled and quickly marched past her into the bedroom. He slouched onto the bed, and Amy followed suite.

"So," He said casually, lying back onto the bad with his hands behind his head. "Did Tails tell you anything about his idea? He mentioned a flower…"

Amy shrugged, and plopped onto her back beside him.

"Nothing." She replied with pity. "He was locked up in his room the whole time I was there."

"That's not like him at all." said Sonic, rotating his body to find a more comfortable position on his side.

"I know." Amy said, sounding nervous. "I'm worried about him."

Sonic smiled at her and placed his hand gently on hers.

"Don't worry." He said soothingly. "Tails knows he can tell me if he has a problem."

Amy smiled grudgingly at him, but he could tell that she was not completely convinced. Neither spoke for a moment after.

"I don't know about you," Sonic said with a yawn, stretching his arms above his head. "But I'm exhausted."

He noticed with a little chuckle, however, that she was tucked into a tiny ball, breathing softly. The conscious hedgehog gently lifted the sleeping one and placed her head carefully upon his pillows, pulling the blankets up to her neck. He tip-toed out of the room, extremely cautious to make as little noise as possible. The icemaker in the refrigerator was humming gently, but it seemed much louder from the surrounding silence of the house. Sonic made his way through the kitchen and to the living room, where he plopped onto the squashy couch and fell asleep instantly.

The memory of the red flower had quickly manifested in a snowball effect so that an archive of uncovered images and situations had depicted themselves in Tails' buzzing mind. The scarlet bloom being destroyed by Cosmo – so unlike her character – was only the first in a sequence of almost a dozen more.

The image of Cosmo rushing away slid smoothly into another one of her running alongside Sonic, hand in hand. She moved with surprising speed… exactly as her daughter had… She pulled her hand away and quietly insisted upon walking herself after that.

Tails' twin tails rotated speedily behind him, Cosmo grasped bridal-style in his arms. She beamed up at him, feeling weightless. Thinking back, she was inhumanly light. Completely insubstantial.

These memories continued to play through Tails' head like a slideshow… all of them pointing to a startling conclusion. Apparently, through touch, Cosmo, and perhaps Hina, could… Tails could hardly believe his skeptical, scientific mind was thinking it, but there seemed to be no other possibility… could harness, utilizeother people's strengths, their powers. Knuckles' strength, Sonic's speed… But why, he thought, why had Cosmo never told him? Why had she hastily rushed away, trying to avoid anyone noticing? He felt a stab of hurt; he thought he had known her so well. He was almost certain that she had shared his strong affection… even love, but why had she kept this from him? Did she have other powers, such as Hina's flying and plant-growing? Again, he felt sick and confused. Pensively, he got to his feet and made his way into the kitchen, checking the clock. It was nearly quarter after nine, and he expected Hina to awake any moment. As if on cue, he heard the gentle patter of her foot prints coming from the hall way.

"Morning, Mipro!" She said cheerfully, skipping into the room with a smile on her face. For a brief moment before he realized she had not shared the night's revelation, Tails couldn't understand how she could be so completely unperturbed. When he remembered that the entire chain of events was completely in his head, he returned her smile queasily.

"Morning, Hina." He said in an unusually high-pitched voice. "Breakfast?"

Hina, not noticing his odd composition, nodded happily and plopped onto one of the kitchen chairs.

"Can I have a banana?"

Tails cocked his head and tore his brain from the troubling thoughts, feeling that it wasn't fair to be cross with Hina because of the turmoil in his own head.

"Is that all you want?" He asked, making quite an effort to keep his tone cheerful.

"Yes, please." She answered, rapping her fingers on the table top pleasantly.

Tails grabbed one of the long, yellow fruits from a little stand of hanging black baskets he used for holding non-refrigerated produce. He handed it to Hina, who thanked him and set to opening it. Tails watched for a moment as she wrestled to tear off the peel, her tongue sticking out in concentration. He was suddenly overcome with an avalanche of too many emotions to sort out. He turned his back to her, eyes clamped tight to hold back tears. Despair, love, loneliness, amusement, exasperation, affection, confusion… He had no idea why her small action of trying to open the banana made him feel so strongly, but suspected that it had to do with lack of sleep and the night's emotional abuse. He took a calming breath and slowly opened his eyes, becoming aware that he had his arms wrapped tightly around himself. As he turned, he saw that Hina, looking at him puzzled and concerned, had resorted to tearing at the still unopened banana with her teeth. Tails tried to laugh, and pulled it out of her mouth.

"I'll do it for you." He said. The top of the banana was ravaged so much that it was not much more than a yellow-brown paste beneath the skin. Tails grabbed a knife, sliced off the mushy top, and handed the peeled fruit to Hina, who took it gratefully.

"Thanks, Mipro." She said with a grin. Tails grabbed a banana for himself and took a seat across from Hina, suddenly ravenous. He gobbled it down after a moment, and then raided the cupboards for other breakfast supplies. Two bowls of cereal later, Tails and Hina sat silently, the latter still chewing one of the last few bites of her banana.

"So," Tails said, desperate for something to occupy his mind, "What do you want to do today?"

Hina looked at the ceiling thoughtfully and swallowed her mouthful. After a moment, she looked back at Tails excitedly.

"Could we go visit Sonic and Amy?"

Tails hesitated, instinctively not wanting to uncover a new power of Hina's. He decided that it would only have been a matter of time before she discovered it, so did not blame Sonic at all.

"Sure." He said with a slightly forced smile. "But not yet, we've got to wait until at least noon. Sonic likes his sleep-ins."

Hina giggled.

"Alright. Could we visit my plants?"

Tails cleared his throat in pity. He didn't wish to tell or show her what remained in the plot of land beside theirs; there was only the faintest trace of green in a forest of dead brown and yellow. What trees still retained their leaves were wilted and close to death. In fact, the jungle had thinned so much that Tails had walked through it the other night without needing to so much as brush a bough out of his face. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Hina," He said, choosing his words carefully. "I know what we could do."

She watched him intently.

"Okay! What?"

"Well," Tails began, trying to sound casual and not let his inspiration drown out the conversational tone in his voice. "I have an idea. It's like a sort of test."

Hina smiled widely.

"Okay! Is it a fun test?"

"Oh, yes." Tails replied. "We're going to check something out."

A/N:Oh gosh! What could Tails be trying to figure out?! Will Hina make a good guinea pig?! Which came first, the chicken or the egg?! Will Emma have to throw a temper tantrum for lack of reviews? Well let's hope not. I'm NOT good with temper tantrums. Trust me… you'll want to lock your doors and shield the eyes of young people. Please review. I'm begging you! ON MY HANDS AND KNEES!!! Purdy purdy please… with a cherry on top…

--LA